Corrugated covers

ABSTRACT

A corrugated cover which has a number of corrugations and a longitudinally extending opening. The cover is made up from pairs of rings formed with offset radial slits. The rings are connected in pairs to form annuli and the annuli are connected together by sewing around their inner and outer peripheries alternately.

U United States Patent [151 3,660,213 Moseley [4 1 May 2, 1972 CORRUGATED COVERS [56] References Cited [72] Inventor: Royston L. Moseley, Bewdley, England UNITED TA E ATENTS [73] Assignee: Henry Beakbone (Fortox) Limited, Kid- 2,41 1,874 12/1946 Golden ..64/32 F X derminster, England Primary E.\'aminerJohn T. Goolkasian [22] Ffled' 1970 Assistant Examiner-Joseph C. Car [21] Appl. No.: 7,518 Attorney-Woodling, Krost, Granger & Rust 52 [1.5. CI ..l61/7, 64/3, 64/11 B, 7 ABSTRACT 64/32 F, 161/46, 161/50, 285/226, 156/93, 156/182 A corrugated cover which has a number of corrugations and a Int. l gi di l y extending p i g The cover is made p from [58] Field Of Search 161/35, 36, 38, 39, 42, 46, pairs of rings formed with offset radial slits The rings are nected in pairs to form annuli and the annuli are connected together by sewing around their inner and outer peripheries alternately.

7 Claims, Drawing Figures PATENTEBMAY 21972' 3,660,213

' SHEET 10F 2 PATENTEDMAY 21972 3,660,213

SHEET 20F 2 Inventor K /{fen Mose/e7 Attorneys CORRUGATED COVERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of the Invention This invention relates to corrugated covers of the bellows type for fitting over a shaft or screw of a machine tool. One example of such a cover is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,284,264.

2. Description of the Prior Art In previous forms of bellows covers a longitudinally extending opening or slit has been provided having non-co-operating edges and thus has required the edges to be fixed together by means of adhesive tape or the like after the cover had been positioned to accommodate the machine parts. Such fixing has been laborious and time-consuming.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved form of slitted bellows cover. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of making such a slitted bellows cover.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a slitted bellows cover having the improvement wherein each corrugation comprises two annuli, each annulus thus made from a pair of slitted rings, the slit of a ring of each annulus being angularly oflset relative to the slit of the other ring of the annulus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1a and lb are diagrammatic perspective representations of two annuli comprising a corrugation of a corrugated cover.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective representation of a corrugation comprising the two annuli shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic perspective representation showing the manner of interconnection of the corrugations, each corrugation being constructed as shown in FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIGS. la and lb of the drawings there is shown two annuli, each consisting of a pair of slitted rings which are bonded or sewn together with face-to-face engagements. In FIG. 2 of the drawings there is shown a corrugation which is obtained by sewing together the annuli of FIGS. la and lb around their inner circumferences and in FIG. 3 there is shown a pair of corrugations each constructed as shown in FIG. 2, the two corrugations being sewn together around their outer circumferences.

In FIGS. la and lb there is shown four rings.l0, ll, 12 and 13 each formed of a resilient material such as a synthetic thermo-plastic material and each ring is formed with a radially extending slit. The rings and l l are joined together in face-toface engagement either by means of an adhesive or by sewing and the slits in the rings 10 and 11 are angularly spaced from each other and the portions between the two slits are not joined together so that one provides a double thickness por tion at either end of which single thickness portions are not joined together so that the double thickness portion can be moved so as to provide an open mouth the purpose of which is hereinafter described.

The two slitted rings 12 and 13 are likewise joined together in face-to-face engagement either by means of an adhesive or by sewing with the slits in the two rings 12 and 13 angularly spaced from each other and with the portions of the ring between the slits again not joined to each other so that one again provides a double thickness portion with single thickness portion 16, 17 at either ends thereof arranged to commit the double thickness portion to be deformed to provide an open mouth. It is to be noted that the angular spacing of the slits of FIG. lb is the reverse of the angular spacing of the slits of FIG. la so that, when the annulus obtained by joining together the two rings of FIG. lb is placed on top of the annulus obtained by joining together the two rings of FIG. la, one obtains the configuration shown in FIG. 2 in which the two annuli are shown sewn together around their inner circumferences, the single thickness portion 14 being sewn to the single thickness portion 16. The corrugation shown in FIG. 2

is arranged so that it will form one corrugation of a completed bellows and it can be seen that the slits in the four rings 10, ll, 12 and 13 are so arranged that a tongue and groove type joint is obtained between the end of the double thickness portions of the annuli, the tongue constituted by the sewn-together portions 14 and 16 being receivable in the groove constituted by the space between the portions 15 and 17. Because of the flexible nature of the material from which the rings are formed said tongue can be moved out of its groove into the position shown in FIG. 2.

To form a complete bellows, a plurality of corrugations each as shown in FIG. 2 are sewn to each other around their outside circumferences with the portions 15 and 17 of the corrugation shown in FIG. 2 not being sewn to the corresponding portions of the adjacent corrugations whereby the bellows can be deformed to afford a continuously extending slit so that the completed bellows can be opened out so that the bellows can be fitted on to a shaft, the shaft passing through the open mouths of the various annuli forming the completed bellows.

After the bellows has been fitted around the shaft said slit is closed by sealed means in the form of an adhesive which is applied to those faces of the portions 15 and 16 which are uppermost as viewed in FIG. 2. The sealing arrangement can be strengthened by application of a steel staple (not shown) to the outer circumference of the bellows between the series of slits therein.

As can be seen from the drawings each ring forming the completed bellows is provided with a radially extending slit and the rings are initially secured together in pairs to form annuli with the slits of the two rings of the annuli offset and with the portions of the two rings between the offset slits not bonded together. Such portions l4, l5, l6, 17 of the rings of the cover are in alignment in the completed cover so that a longitudinally extending opening or mouth can be obtained by appropriateflexing of the rings forming the cover.

From the above it can be seen that the invention provides an extremely simple and effective method of forming slitted bellows cover and that the cover can readily be fitted 'on to or removed from a machine tool part. The cover will have split end plates whereby it can be secured in position and it will also be seen that the present invention allows for a simple and effective means of sealing the slit or opening after assembly of the cover on to a shaft. One of the split end plates is attached to a fixed part of the machine tool and the other end plate is attached to a movable member of the machine tool such that the bellows will expand and contract during movement of said movable member and will protect the shaft or screw over which it is fitted against the entry of dust or dirt.

I claim:

1. A slitted bellows cover which includes a corrugation comprising two annuli disposed in face-to-face relation, each annulus comprising a pair of interconnected slitted rings disposed in face-to-face relation, the slit of a ring of each annulus being angularly offset relative to the slit of the other ring of the annulus.

v 2. A slitted bellows cover according to claim 1 wherein said corrugation is connected to a plurality of other interconnected corrugations, the annuli of each corrugation being joined together around their inner circumferences.

3. A slitted bellows cover according to claim 2 wherein the portions of the rings between said offset slits are not bonded together and wherein said portions of the rings of the cover are in alignment in the completed cover.

4. A slitted bellows cover according to claim 2 wherein said connection between said corrugations is between the outer circumferences of the annuli.

portions of the annuli between the offset slits in alignment.

6. A method of making a slitted bellows cover as claimed in claim 5 in which said rings are secured together by adhesive.

7. A method of making a slitted bellows cover as claimed in 5 claim 6 in which the annuli are interconnected by sewing.

I I i 8 i 

1. A slitted bellows cover which includes a corrugation comprising two annuli disposed in face-to-face relation, each annulus comprising a pair of interconnected slitted rings disposed in face-to-face relation, the slit of a ring of each annulus being anGularly offset relative to the slit of the other ring of the annulus.
 2. A slitted bellows cover according to claim 1 wherein said corrugation is connected to a plurality of other interconnected corrugations, the annuli of each corrugation being joined together around their inner circumferences.
 3. A slitted bellows cover according to claim 2 wherein the portions of the rings between said offset slits are not bonded together and wherein said portions of the rings of the cover are in alignment in the completed cover.
 4. A slitted bellows cover according to claim 2 wherein said connection between said corrugations is between the outer circumferences of the annuli.
 5. A method of making a slitted bellows cover from rings formed with radial slits, said method comprising securing the rings together in pairs in face-to-face relation with the slits therein angularly offset, and securing together the annuli formed from the pairs of rings in face-to-face relation alternately around their inner and outer peripheries with the portions of the annuli between the offset slits in alignment.
 6. A method of making a slitted bellows cover as claimed in claim 5 in which said rings are secured together by adhesive.
 7. A method of making a slitted bellows cover as claimed in claim 6 in which the annuli are interconnected by sewing. 